


The Path to Becoming a Hero

by Latias425



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Adventure, Backstory, Childhood, Family, Family Fluff, Gen, Mentors, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-08-03 22:03:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16334051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latias425/pseuds/Latias425
Summary: "The path to becoming a hero is long and hard. There's no shortcuts. I ended up learning that the hard way, because just like you, I was a very enthusiastic and optimistic one. It was with him that I learned about the hardships that world throws at you, but he also taught me that there is no such thing as giving up."





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, this is Latias425 here with an OK K.O. story that literally came to my mind when I was sleeping last night (don't ask how my brain works. Weird brain is weird). Anyway, this is a story that will have a ton of family fluff (because I'm just a sucker for that s**t) and stars Carol in her younger years. In case you may or may not know, Carol is my absolute favorite character in the whole show, and especially after watching the episodes Glory Days and Let's Take a Moment, I found that bit of her backstory to be interesting, and I also noticed that she was a lot like K.O. when she was younger. So just last night I got the idea to write a story about her childhood and how she learned the ways of becoming a hero (and also to just write a story about Carol because I love her so goddamn much).

 

It was nighttime in the Kincaid household, and Carol was getting ready to put her son to bed.

"Mommy, can you tell me a bedtime story?" K.O. asked as she tucked him in.

"Of course, Peanut." Carol replied with a smile.

"And this time, I want a story about you. I really like those ones."

"Funny that you mention that, K.O. Sometimes your little adventures remind me of the times when I was a youngster."

"Really? They do?!" K.O. asked as his eyes widened. "Mommy, what was it like when you were young? And how did you become such a great, awesome hero?"

Carol chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, it's...it's kind of a long story and I don't really know if-"

"Tell me the story! Tell me the story! Tell me the story!" K.O. demanded.

"Well..." Carol thought about it for a moment, and then she sighed. "Oh, alright. Come over here and I'll tell ya." K.O. cheered and he went over and sat on her lap. "I'll tell you the story of how I learned how to be a hero, but of course, we have to start from the beginning when I was just a young'un."

* * *

Many years ago in the year 198X, the autumn breeze blew in a small neighborhood and past a small house at the end of it.

Inside the house, a young six-year-old girl with rather messy blonde hair, a blue shirt and overalls, and a gap in her front teeth sat in front of the TV, watching as a superhero fought against a supervillain.

 _"You look like you could use a cool-down, villain!"_  the hero shouted as he unleashed his ice breath and froze the villain before picking him up and throwing him into prison.

"Wow..." she gasped with stars in her eyes. Just then, she heard the door open and a tall woman with blonde hair came in.

"Oh, there you are, Carol."

Carol ran over to her mother and hugged her. "Look at me, Mommy! I'm a superhero!" she exclaimed as she puffed up her chest and held up her fist.

"Aw, that's adorable, sweetie pie." Catherine Kincaid smiled as she patted her daughter on the head. "You know, you can go be a superhero by helping Daddy with the groceries."

"Okay, Mommy! I'll go aid my Daddy in the superfood delivery!" Carol exclaimed with a salute as she left to help her father Liam carry the groceries into the house, and Catherine laughed as she watched her daughter leave. Carol was such a precious little girl.

* * *

"Wait, that's what it was like when you were young?" K.O. asked. "It all sounds so...different."

"A lot of things were different back then, kiddo." Carol replied. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, when I was little, I told my parents about how much I wanted to be a hero."

* * *

Later that night, the family of three was eating dinner.

"Mommy, Daddy, I know what I wanna be when I grow up! I wanna be a hero!" Carol announced.

"But sweetie, you're already such a great hero." Catherine replied.

"Yeah, honey bun, you really help out a lot as a hero." Liam added.

"No, I mean a  _hero_  hero! I wanna be a hero that fights bad guys and saves people and does all that cool superpower stuff! Just like Storm Mask!"

_"At first my parents thought that I was just being silly with the whole hero stuff, but they soon realized that I was actually very serious about it."_

Carol lay down on her stomach in front of the TV, her eyes glued to the screen as she watched her hero Storm Mask deal with yet another villain.

 _"Another no-good villain down and out."_  Storm Mask said, and then he turned to the screen.  _"Now remember, kids. You get caught with a crime..."_

Carol put her hand on the TV and said with him, "You get caught in the storm!"

* * *

Carol was now coloring a picture on the dining table. She then spotted her father walking by and exclaimed, "Daddy! Daddy! Look at all the pictures that I drew!"

Liam took the drawings from his daughter, and he saw that Carol had drawn several pictures of herself fighting bad guys, stopping a gang from robbing a bank, saving people from a burning building, and posing heroically while a crowd cheered for her.

"Do you like them, Daddy?"

"Uhh...yeah, they're quite...interesting."

"Great! I'm gonna go show Mommy!"

* * *

Out in the backyard, Carol put on a red headband and began punching and kicking the air, pretending that she was fighting a bad guy. "Ha, yeah! Take that, villain! Taste the mighty fists of justice!"

Her parents watched from the window in the room. "She's not gonna give it up with this hero thing, isn't she?" Catherine asked.

"I'm afraid not." Liam replied as he shook his head.


	2. First Day of School

"Wait, why were your parents so worried about you wanting to become a hero?" K.O. asked.

"Well..." Carol chuckled nervously. "We'll get to that later. For now, let's just get back to the current part of the story, shall we?"

* * *

It was a bright and early fall morning. Carol always woke up pretty early, but on Sunday mornings, she was up extra early so that she could join her father on his morning walk. "I'm ready to go, Daddy!" she said as she was struggling to get her jacket on.

"Here, let me help you." Liam helped Carol get her jacket on, and then he turned to his wife, who was starting to prepare breakfast. "Honey, Carol and I are heading out now. We'll be back before breakfast."

"Okay. Have fun, you two."

"Bye, Mommy!" Carol waved to her mother as they left to go on their walk. The early morning sun was rising, with barely any clouds in the sky and a cool autumn breeze blowing the multicolored leaves off the trees. Just the perfect weather for going outside and taking a walk. "Can I take the lead this time, Daddy?"

"Sure, honey bun." Liam answered. "Just don't go too far ahead, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Carol nodded as she began to skip ahead, kicking at piles of fallen leaves and humming to herself.

As Liam watched his daughter skip around, he thought about the previous night.

* * *

Last night, after Carol had gone to bed, Catherine and Liam sat at the table, both of them looking quite concerned.

"What are we gonna do with Carol?" Liam asked after a long moment of silence. "I really hoped that we didn't have to start getting into this until she was much older."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll move out of it. Carol's had a lot of phases over the past few months."

"Yes, but what if she doesn't? She seems to be taking this hero thing really seriously, and that really worries me. The whole reason we moved here was to raise her someplace where we wouldn't have to worry about that sort of stuff." Liam sighed. "Another thing I'm worried about is her social interaction. A girl her age should be going out and interacting with other kids. Although, there aren't that many kids in this neighborhood."

Catherine thought about it for a moment, and then she suggested, "We could try having her go to school. The new school year's starting next week."

"Yes, we could do that, but I'm not sure if she's quite ready yet. I don't want to force her into it. You know how nervous kids get on their first day of school."

"Honey, we'll talk it over with her at breakfast in the morning after your walk, how about that?"

* * *

The two of them came back home just in time for breakfast, and Catherine had just finished setting down the plates just as they walked in the door.

"Oh boy! Pancakes!" Carol exclaimed as she sat down and began to eat away at her breakfast.

Now that they were all at the table, Catherine and Liam figured that now was the time for them to talk to Carol about what they had discussed the previous night. "Um, Carol..." Liam began. "Mommy and I would like to talk to you about something."

"What is it, Daddy?"

"Well...what we would like to say is...what would you think if we had you go to school?"

Carol perked up upon hearing that last word. "School?"

"Yes, we think that it's time for you to start getting an education."

"I...I don't know, Daddy. What if I don't know anything?"

"That's what school is for, Carol. It's for you to learn things that you may or may not know about. You're a very smart girl, so I don't think you'll have a lot of problems."

"Plus, school's also the perfect place for you to make new friends." Catherine added.

"Friends?" Carol asked. "I don't know if I can do that."

"But don't you think it would be nice if you had a friend to play with?"

Carol was still unsure. She had been so used to being by herself that the thought of being friends with another kid seemed weird to her. "I...I don't know..."

"Look Carol, I know this whole idea of school is a bit scary for you, but I promise that it's nothing to worry about. The first day of school isn't until next week, so we can get you registered and meet the teacher until then. Does that sound good to you?" Liam asked.

Carol was still unsure, but nodded. "Okay."

**One week later...**

"Time to get up, sweetie. Time for your first day of school."

Carol refused to get out of bed. The dreaded day for her to go to the child's prison known as school had come.

"Come on, honey bun. You have to get up. We don't want to be late on your first day."

"But Daddy, I don't wanna go to school!" Carol whined as she pulled her blanket over her.

"Come on, honey, we've been over this. I promise it won't be so hard to go to school and make some friends."

"But what if the other kids don't like me? What if they think I'm weird?"

"Carol, honey, no one's gonna think that." her mother told her. "I mean, I know school can be a bit scary, especially when it's your first day, but I can tell you that it's nothing to worry about."

"Look Carol, we're not forcing you to make friends with anyone, but we just want you to try. Can you do that for Mommy and Daddy?" Liam asked.

Carol thought about it for a moment, and she nodded. "Yes, Daddy."

"That's our girl." Liam smiled as he ruffled his daughter's hair. "Now, come on. We better get going."

* * *

After they had gotten ready, the family had arrived at the school. Carol was still a bit nervous about this, and she held both of her parents' hands as they entered the playground where many kids were running around and playing.

"I-I don't know about this, Mommy. What if I forget my name? What if I forget how to speak?"

"Don't be silly, Carol. That's not going to happen." Just then, Catherine spotted a girl standing by herself. "There's someone you can talk to. Go ahead and introduce yourself to them."

"Wh-What do I even do?" Carol asked.

"Just walk up to them and say 'Hi, I'm Carol. What's your name?'."

"O-Okay." Carol nervously walked up to the girl and cleared her throat, catching their attention. "H-Hi, I-I'm Carol. Wh-What's your name?"

The girl smiled and introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Carol. I'm Mia. You have a pretty name."

"Oh, um...thanks." Carol replied as she smiled shyly and blushed.

"So, is this your first day here?" Mia asked, and Carol nodded shyly. "Oh, I see. I know the first day of school can be pretty scary, but trust me, once you meet everyone else, you'll see that it's actually pretty fun."

Just then, there was the ring of a bell and Carol saw that the other kids were running inside the building. "What's going on? Is there a villain here?!" she asked, anticipating a supervillain to show up out of nowhere.

"No, that's just the bell." Mia answered, much to Carol's disappointment. "That means school's starting. Come on."

Mia headed inside with the other kids, and Carol soon followed, but not before stopping and turning to her parents. They were waving to her, and she waved back at them and said, "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy." before heading inside the building.

* * *

Mia lead Carol to their classroom, and when they got in, she gasped in awe at what was inside. It was a pretty large room with several small tables where the students sit, as well as several bookshelves and cubbies. As soon as the two girls took their seats, the teacher walked into the room, who was a tall woman with her whole attire being based off music, with her white dress looking like it was made right out of sheet music as well as having purple earrings that resembled musical notes.

"Good morning, children!" she greeted, her voice jubilant and full of energy.

"Good morning, Ms. Arietta!" the class said back.

"Now, before we begin today's lesson, I would just like to announce that we have a new student joining us. Please give a warm welcome for Carol Kincaid!"

The entire class then turned their heads to Carol, who sat there unsure of what to do or why everyone was staring at her. "Uhh...wh-what do I do?" she asked in a whisper.

"Just stand up and introduce yourself." Mia answered.

"O-Okay." Carol stood up and proceeded to do just that. "Uhh...hello. I'm Carol."

"Well, it is a great pleasure to meet you, Carol, and we're very happy to have you be part of our class!" Ms. Arietta exclaimed as she clapped her hands, and Carol couldn't help but blush. "Now, let us begin our lesson for today. Our theme of the day is..." The teacher was about to write on the chalkboard when she noticed that the girl was still standing. "Carol, you can sit down now."

"Oh, okay." Carol said as she sat back down in her seat.

"Anyway, our theme for today is..." Ms. Arietta began as she wrote on the chalkboard. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Carol's face lit up upon hearing that, but before she could blurt out her answer, the teacher continued. "What you all are going to do is draw a picture of what you want to be when you grow up, and anyone who would like to share can do so."

Ms. Arietta then went around and handed out papers and a box of markers to each of the tables. As soon as Carol got her paper, she grabbed a yellow marker and began to draw away. It took her no time at all to finish her drawing and when she was done, she sat there eagerly as she really wanted to share what she had drawn.

"Alright, who would like to share what they have?" Ms. Arietta asked after about ten minutes.

"Ooh, ooh, I do, I do! Pick me, pick me!" Carol hollered, waving her arm in the air and jumping up and down in her seat.

Ms. Arietta chuckled at this child's enthusiasm. "Okay then, Carol. Come up here and show us what you drew."

Carol cheered and then hurried up to the front of the class and proudly presented her drawing, which was of her beating up a supervillain. "When I grow up, I wanna be a hero!" she exclaimed, puffing up her chest and speaking in a heroic voice as she continued. "I wanna be able to fight bad guys and save the world and all that other cool stuff!"

Ms. Arietta wasn't really surprised at this, as she remembered Carol's parents telling her about how crazy she was about heroes and wanting to be one. "Well, uh...thank you for sharing with us, Carol. You can go sit back down."

"Okay." Carol said as she went back to her seat and sat back down feeling very proud of herself. She then noticed that Mia was still working on her drawing and asked, "So what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Well, I want to be a nurse like my mom." Mia answered. "She helps all kinds of sick and injured people all around the country."

"Heroes too?"

"Of course. They need someone to treat their wounds from all the battles they fight. So you really want to be a hero when you grow up?"

"Of course! It's like the coolest job you could ever have! You get to save people and stop evil and go on all sorts of exciting adventures!"

"But don't you think it's a little...dangerous?"

"Maybe, but that's what makes it so exciting! Seeing all those cool heroes fight bad guys is so amazing!" Carol exclaimed, her eyes sparkling in awe. "Hey, have you heard about Storm Mask?"

"Storm Mask? You mean that hero from the 196Xs?"

"Yeah, he's like the coolest hero ever! His powers are so amazing and his show is so awesome! What wouldn't I give to meet him someday." The thought of meeting her hero in person made Carol tear up in excitement. "That would be a dream come true!"

* * *

"Alright class, time for recess!" Ms. Arietta called as the class began to run outside.

"Recess? What's recess?" Carol asked.

"It's when we get to go outside and play." Mia explained.

A time for going outside and playing was what got Carol excited. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She grabbed Mia's hand and headed outside to the playground. "Where should we go? What should we do?"

"We could try the swing set, or the jungle gym." Mia suggested.

"No, how about we do something more exciting?" As Carol looked around the playground, she noticed a fence hidden behind some bushes all the way at the far end of the schoolyard. "Like we could go over to those bushes and see what lies behind that mysterious fence!"

"Carol, we can't go over there! We're not allowed to leave the playground!"

"Why not?"

shrugged. "Those are just the rules." Then she noticed that Carol was heading over to the fence anyway. "Carol, what are you doing?" she asked as she followed the other girl to the bushes, hoping that no one was seeing them. "Get away from there before someone sees you!"

"I'm just gonna go take a peek behind that fence. You wanna join me?"

"No! I don't wanna get in trouble!"

"Well okay, it's your loss if I end up finding something amazing!" Carol replied as she started to climb the fence, and soon she managed to reach the top and then jumped down and landed on the other side. "See ya." she said before taking off.

Mia watched as Carol disappeared into the forest. "Oh, she's gonna be in so much trouble."

* * *

Carol walked through the endless array of trees, eager to find out what new discoveries lay in here.

"Ooh, this place is so dark and mysterious. I like it." Carol commented, feeling like she was in one of those nature shows on TV. The only thing it needed was narration from a guy with a funny accent, which she decided to provide. "Here I am, trekking through a mysterious forest. This forest has yet to be explored, so I'm here to find out what lies within these trees." She giggled to herself, liking her commentary.

Just then, Carol saw what looked to be large footprints.

"It seems that I have found some footprints. I bet they belong to some kind of giant, undiscovered creature!" And so she decided to follow the footprints.

* * *

Back at the playground, Mia stood at a safe distance from the fence so that no one would suspect that a student just climbed over it and took off into Cob knows where. She hoped that wherever Carol was, she would come back safe and soon.

Just then, Mia heard Ms. Arietta call for the class to come back inside, and debated on whether she should go off to go inside with the others or wait for Carol to come back. Not wanting to get in trouble, she decided to join up with the rest of the class.

Before the class went inside, Ms. Arietta did a headcount to check if everyone was present, but noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Carol? Did anyone tell her it's time to come inside?" No one said anything. "Everyone, go look for her. We can't go back in until everyone is present."

The other kids began to look all around the playground for Carol, but couldn't find her anywhere.

When the kids began to tell the teacher that they couldn't find the missing student, Mia finally decided to speak up. "Um, Ms. Arietta...I-I think I know where Carol is."

"Where is she?"

Mia hesitated for a moment, and she answered, "She climbed the fence and went into the forest."

"WHAT?!" asked Ms. Arietta in shock, and the other kids gasped. "Why didn't you stop her?!"

"I-I told her she wasn't supposed to go there, b-but she just did it."

"Mia, we have to go get her! That forest is no place for a young child!"

* * *

As Carol continued to follow the footprints, she found that they were only making her walk around in circles, and soon she found herself to be lost. It was then when she started to realize that maybe climbing a fence and going into a mysterious forest wasn't such a good idea. But Carol knew it wasn't the time to panic...yet. "Think Carol, think! What would Storm Mask do if he was lost in a dark and scary forest?" She thought long and hard, but couldn't recall an instance where her hero provided helpful tips on how to deal with this kind of situation. So she did the only thing that she could do, which was call for help. "Hello?! Is there anyone out there?! I-I'm lost!"

Just then, Carol heard a strange sound coming from behind her, and she turned to the source of the sound, and a large purple griffin-like creature came out from the bushes.

"Um...hello. I'm just a little girl who's lost. Can you help me get out of here?" Carol asked, and the creature responded with a ferocious roar, making her gulp as she slowly backed away. "O-Okay, I'll take that as a no."

* * *

Ms. Arietta quickly headed over to the fence that Carol had climbed over with Mia and the rest of the class following close behind. She ordered them to stay at a safe distance in case something came out, and she went over to the fence and called out, "Carol, are you out there?! If you can hear me, then you better get back over here right now!"

Suddenly, there was a loud roar from the forest, followed by the scream of a young girl. The rest of the class gasped as they began to back away.

"Stay right where you are, kids, and don't any of you move from that spot!" Ms. Arietta ordered. She couldn't climb up to the other side of the fence and go into the forest, so all she could do was continue to call Carol's name.

Carol had never run so fast in her life, but then again, she never had to run  _for_  her life until now. The griffin was coming fast, and she knew she had to find a way out or else she would be toast. Just then, she heard someone call her name, and she looked to see Ms. Arietta reaching over the fence that led back to the schoolyard.

"Carol, grab my hand!"

Carol took no time to reach her hand out and grab the teacher's, but just as she was pulling her up, the griffin came and grabbed onto the leg of her overalls. "Oh no!"

"Let go of that child, you monster!" Ms. Arietta aimed her wand at the creature, sending a beam of musical notes at it, which made it let go and then retreat back into the forest, and she quickly pulled Carol up the fence, back into the schoolyard, and put her safely on the ground. The girl was pretty shaken by that experience, and she fell to her knees and started crying. "Carol, what on earth were you doing out there in that dangerous forest?!"

"I...I don't know." was all Carol answered after letting out some tears.

* * *

After the incident at recess, Carol's parents were called and as soon as they came, they had a private conversation with Ms. Arietta. Although they were relieved that their daughter wasn't hurt, they were really not happy about what she did.

After their talk with the teacher, both Catherine and Liam decided to take Carol home early, and she sat there in the back seat of the car with her head down and feeling nothing but shame with the fact that she had been sent home early on her first day of school. The ride home was completely silent, and once they got home, the parents were in their daughter's room to give her a strict talking to.

"So Carol, would you mind explaining to us why you decided to climb a fence and go into a potentially dangerous forest?" Liam asked, having his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

Tears began to well up in Carol's eyes. "I-I'm so sorry, Daddy! I-I didn't know what I was thinking!" she cried, and then she put her head down as the tears began to stream down her face. "I-I knew I wasn't supposed to go out there...b-but I just...did it. I-It was really stupid of me to do that."

"Carol, you know better than to keep out of restricted areas!" her mother scolded. "You seriously could've gotten hurt! You are very lucky that you were able to get out in one piece!"

"Carol, when you're at school, you're supposed to stay on school grounds at all times. There's a reason why they don't allow kids to leave. The teachers and staff are there to make sure you're safe, because they don't want stuff like that to happen. Understand?" Liam asked, and Carol nodded. He turned to his wife and sighed. "Maybe we really should've waited a little longer for this."

"No Daddy, it's not your fault. It's mine. I was the one that decided to climb the fence. " Carol admitted, and then she begged with tears in her eyes, "P-Please give me another chance! I-I promise I won't do it again! I promise I'll be a good girl and follow the rules and not get myself in trouble again!"

The two thought about it, and then Liam answered, "Okay, Carol. We'll give you another chance."

"Thanks, Daddy." Carol smiled as they pulled her in for a hug. "So, does this mean I'm not in trouble anymore?"

"Unfortunately, no. For leaving the playground at school, you're grounded for the rest of the week." Liam answered.

"Aw, okay."

"Carol, if there's a lesson that you learned today, it's that your actions have consequences. When you break the rules or do something bad, you have to pay the price for it. That's just how it is."

Although Carol was a bit disappointed that she was grounded, she now knew that that was something that she wouldn't do again. "I knew I shouldn't have done that, but now I know I not to do it again. A good hero always learns from their mistakes!"


End file.
